If I have a for that is blank, do I classify it as "No Data" or "Cover"?
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Contents

Extra Keying Helps

Common Keying Errors Found by Reviewers

The main indexing errors I am seeing at the moment (and much of this is down to not reading the keying instructions) are:

A lot of keyers are not reading the whole document and therefore are not keying all the names/ages shown.

A lot of keyers are showing removal documents as 'Image With No Data' where there is a date, Name of subject(s) and where they are being removed from. this should be shown as a document and the relevent data entered.

A lot of keyers are showing Shoreditch as the originating union/parish, but in a lot of cases the originating union is elsewhere, eg Saint Mary, Islington and the subject is being removed TO St Leonard Shoreditch. The keying instructions are misleading as the majority of entries I am currently reviewing refer to many different originating unions/parishes.

Questions and Answers

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I have come across a lot of records outside the year range. Do I still key the year as seen?

Q: I've seen a couple of records now where there is a list of children with birth dates but their ages aren't specified. Using the date at the bottom of the page I can work out how old the children would have been at the time, but am I right to do this? Thanks

A: No, if the age is not given we leave it blank. --Katerimmer 17:09, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Q: If you are keying in names and the NEXT page has the same names exactly but it is a different image ... is that classed as a duplicate image (because you have the data already from previous page) or do you still key in the same names again for the second image?

A: Duplicate image is only used when it is actually another copy of the same image, not just the same names on a different image. You should key them again. If you classed it as a duplicate image, it would not be included in the final database and researchers would not be able to view it. --Katerimmer 07:56, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Q: Up until now the images I've keyed have all been removal notices. Today I have images which are an alphabetical index of persons removed, a year (which isn't the same for everyone on a page) and where they were removed to. There is no originating poor law union that I can apply to the whole image - each person was removed somewhere different. Do I leave the poor law union blank? Do I record the years as seen?

A: Key all of the data present on the record. If there isn’t a record of the parish/county that the removal is originating from we key the destination parish/county. And yes, key the event year as seen.

Q: The project instructions say to key every name on the page who isn't an official or magistrate. I keep running into employer names. Ex: Claimant's husband had a job as a livery hand under Mr So-and-So of X Parish but now he is ill and cannot work anymore. Do I key those employer names? They aren't really involved or of interest from a genealogical standpoint.

A: I tend to think these extra details might be useful. In later years we have census, electoral rolls, and tax payer lists etc. In earlier years, and between the census dates these pieces of information might help researchers locate Mrs X who provided lodgings to tenants, Mr Y who was a weaver etc. --ColleenF789

Q: Also, why the hell is '1828' an invalid entry for the 'event year' field? I have to F7 that field on every line and it's unnecessarily annoying.

A: Yes, it's annoying. But we have to F7 because this is an alert to the keyer that what you're keying is 'not expected' in this field - in this instance - outside the specified range for the field 'year' (expected range is 1828-1930). --ColleenF789

Q: I've encountered a few records where the primary claimant is written "Elizabeth Williams properly Curry" or "Laura Curtis otherwise Simmons." From the context in the documents, I learned Elizabeth had married a Mr Williams and Curry was her maiden name and Laura was an illegitimate daughter of mother Curtis who married a Mr. Simmons and had adopted his last name. TL;DR - Which last name do I key when it's written like that, the first listed or the second?

Q: Are the record books dated correctly? Most of the records that I have been indexing are dated 1826-1827.

A: There are a number of records outside the range specified. I've keyed quite a few from the 1780s and 1790s. --ColleenF789

Q: Should we index "unnamed unbaptized bastard" children? If so, how? (female/male Smith?) Then for all of the "bastard" children should we assume the named father or the unmarried mother? Thanks.

A: As far as I know, if they are unnamed, we don't key them. --Katerimmer 22:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

This is correct - unnamed children should not be entered as a record. Annafechter 18:46, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Anna F: Could we have a ruling on this please? Often seen '... child named John aged 2 years and a male child unbaptised aged 1 year.' It seems that if the child hasn't been baptised the authorities don't recognise it. Some of the unbaptised children I've encountered are 'lawful issue' - and obviously have names, but these names haven't been recorded. --ColleenF789

Q: I've encountered a few unnamed "lawful issue" children as well. It will say "Female Smith, aged 2." I've been putting "blank" first name, last name Smith, aged 2. At least that way, a person searching the records will locate a potential match if they know the age and last name of their relative.

Q: Is there any list of the various Parishes and Unions that we should be looking for (I understand when it's clear, but what about some that are very long i.e., Hamlet of Mile End of Old Town)? Sadly not - In the example you have given I would key "Mile End of Old Town" - more commonly seen as Mile end Old Town. Other common ones are St Mary Islington, St Mary le Bone, St Matthew Bethnal Green, saint Giles Without Cripplegate, St Sepulchre, St Botolphs Bishopgate, City of London (when it's recorded as a parish). It would be nice if these were added to the drop down list along with some of the most common parishes like St Leonard Shoreditch. If they were everyone's keying accuracy would be so much higher!

Q: I suspect I'm one of the keyers keying pages to image with no data when I'm not supposed to. The project directions say to only key documents related to settlement and removal. I took that to mean not to do the medical records. Also, a lot of pages are scans of envelopes. Do we key medical records and envelopes? I'm confused.

A: If you see a document that contains names of individuals, family members then you should key these documents. A little bit difficult to visualise what you are calling medical records and envelopes, so if you could post a screen shot on the message board that would help. --ColleenF789

/\ A medical record like this. Lemme guess, I'm supposed to be keying the people's names who are being examined and I've been driving the reviewers bonkers. x.x

A: If I were keying that particular image I would call the Form Type 'Documents & Registers'. I would key the date as 31 Aug (can't see a year there but it might be somewhere on the document), name of the individual - Ann .., the parish as Saint Leonard, Shoreditch. --ColleenF789

/\ Envelope?

A: If I were keying this image I would call the Form Type 'Documents & Registers'. I would key the date as 4 Oct 1879, name of the individual - Wm Arnold and the parish as Sheffield. Good information here as it verifies that the individual was in fact removed from Sheffield. --ColleenF789

Q: Excuse me Colleen, could you look at this one too? Sometimes I get pages with these little registered mail thingies on it. I'm not supposed to key any names from the page underneath even though I can see it because we do the top document only, right? So this little mail thingie would be date and parish name only? ]]

Q: Sometimes, a scan will have settlement documents for one claimant on the right side and a cover sheet for the previous case on the left side. Do we key both sets of names? The cover sheet on the left does not provide any information that a researcher would need to look at, just the claimant's name that would have been keyed on the previous pages.

A: Yes, you should key all the names. --Katerimmer 07:56, 16 January 2014 (UTC)

Q: When I began working on this project, I would download the max 20 batches of records, and they were sequential. But recently the batches are scattered for all time periods. Is there any way to get them more sequential again?

A:I don't really know the answer. But I suggest that some of the image sets you've encountered - bits and pieces, not sequential may be image sets that were (1) rejected previously or (2) time expired. --ColleenF789

Q: I know in reading the initial directions, we are not supposed to transcribe names of officials, does this include the physicians, and clerks when there are letters being sent? Or, in fact, the (2) guardians.

A: I don't believe we need to key names of officials in letters etc. We are trying to capture the names of the individuals, family members, rather than clerks, doctors, guardians, magistrates, Justices etc. --ColleenF789

Q: The document I am keying includes a narrative history of the life of the person in question, including the names of many different parishes where she and her children lived or received assistance. I know from the previous page (her husband's examination) that the examination is being done by the parish of St. Leonard's Shoreditch, but this is not mentioned on this page. How do I determine which parish to record under "Poor Law Union or Parish."

A: In this particular image/instance, leave the Parish/Union field blank. When the images are all collated into the database and linked to the indexes the researcher will find the previous pages/images then look at this next image you're referring to and see all the extra details about other places where this person lived. --Colleenf789 06:05, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Q: I have a register full of warrants issued for men accused of skipping out on their families. It also has a column for reason where it says things like "child, william aged 9", naming the family left behind. The directions say to only key documents related to settlement and removal. This seems like super pertinent information but nobody is being settled/removed. Do I key the names or code to Image with No Data?

A: This would be a Cover page form type.

Suggestions/Additions

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